Tell Laura I Love Her... CD
Sunday, June 06, 2004
A few years ago now, comedian Stef Torok was playing a fine blend of musical comedy with a mate of his called Peter, in a duo called âStefnPeteâ and, he reported back to me, there was this young woman playing her own blend of musical comedy armed only with an acoustic guitar. The woman was Laura Imbruglia, and I made a mental note that I really should pursue an interview with her. Stef warned me not to go in playing the âarenât you the sister of Natalie?â card, suggesting that I should see a gig or two first; she had (and continues to have) a great sense of humour and wrote interesting, often quirky songs.
Somehow, I managed to forget about Laura Imbruglia until I saw posters advertising her new EP, It Makes A Crunchy Noise. I immediately thought, I must interview her. Now, Iâll be up front about this, as I had to be with Laura (and, it turns out, her âscary Calabrianâ manager): I have to ask a âwhatâs it like being Natalieâs sister?â question. I wouldnât be a good journalist (or at least, Iâd be a lesser one) if I didnât address the issue because Laura is, at least to some extent, following in her big sisterâs footsteps, and, Dannii Minogue aside, most siblings avoid elder siblingsâ vocations for fear of continually being compared to them.
Laura tolerated that question, but when I followed through with the logical supplementary question, âdoes having the same surname open doors or raise the bar?â she looked a little âoverâ it, and it wasnât because of the mixed metaphor. âAre all the questions going to be about this?â she demanded. In hindsight, I wish it had been into the mic. The fact was, I only had the two questions, I thought they were important, but I wanted to get them over-and-done-with early on because they arenât as important as the music. And that is the ultimate answer: if what is being done is being done well, than thereâs no chance of living in anyoneâs shadow. Although, as Laura pointed out, what she was doing was different enough for it not to be an issue.
Most of the people who knew Iâd spoken to Laura Imbruglia â well, the guys, anyway â wanted to ask one question. Or two, if the first question was âSister ofâ¦?â Once her family tree had been established, the burning question for most guys seemed to be whether or not she was a âhoneyâ or a âlookerâ like her sister. I thought this was hilarious; Iâd actually asked Stef that same question, way back when. Iâm not saying Iâm any more mature now than I was then, only that the answer then, as now, is, see â and hear â for yourself just how pleasing Laura Imbruglia is to the all of the senses, including your sense of humour! She publishes a gig list online.
This interview was broadcast 29 May 2004.
Soundbite: âOrnithophobia (fear of birds) a.k.a. The Cicada Songâ - from the EP It Makes A Crunchy Noise
One fine and rare yellow monday I went out walking,
Came across a black prince and we started talking,
He was so full of sap, he was an incredible boaster,
Promised me he could find me a green grocer.
Yet I received a boring brown, and itâs getting me down.© Laura Imbruglia
Demetrius Romeo: Laura, a lot of sisters donât get into the same business that their older sisters are in because they just donât like to be in their sistersâ shadow. What made you pursue a career as a musician?
LAURA IMBRUGLIA: I donât think Iâm in a shadow anyway. Iâm going down a different route musically, and I donât see why I should pursue a different career if this is the one I want to do just because Iâve got the same surname.
Demetrius Romeo: Does having the same surname open doors or does it raise the bar higher?
LAURA IMBRUGLIA: I think it does a bit of both. It think itâs pretty equal. It makes it a lot harder to be taken seriously just because people think Iâm just trying to âride the waveâ, but on the other hand, it makes me try and work to prove myself and if I can prove myself, it works well for me, and in other cases it might make people who are just curious, not bother. So itâs a bit of both.
Soundbite: âLettuce And Anarchistsâ - from the EP It Makes A Crunchy Noise
I love my vegan punk friends, theyâre anarchists who like to eat lettuce,
They donât follow any mainstream trends, and please dear God
Donât offer them McDonalds... unless you want a kick in the head.
Theyâll tell you Ronaldâs the reason Che Guevaraâs dead.
And even though theyâre aethiests, major corporations can rot in hell.© Laura Imbruglia
Demetrius Romeo: Before you started recording, you were playing a lot of shows with comedians on the bill, and you do have a sense of humour in your music. Do you see yourself as a musical humourist or as a singer who has a bit of a sense of humour?
LAURA IMBRUGLIA: Probably a singer who has a bit of a sense of humour. When I started off, I wanted to be a comedian and changed my mind about it somewhere down the track. I donât know why. Itâs all right to bring a bit of a sense of humour into the lyrics, but I donât want to be considered just a straight out comedian. I respect people who can get up and make people laugh all the time, but on the other hand, I think comedy CDs, you listen to them about twice, and then you donât listen to them again. So I think itâs up to me to write songs that are worth listening to more than a couple of times as well.
Soundbite: âOrnithophobia (fear of birds) a.k.a. The Cicada Songâ - from the EP It Makes A Crunchy Noise
Still when I die, I'll come back as a cicada,
Please don't rip off my wings or I'll have to cry out of my 3rd eye.
Would insect arms break if I attempt to play guitara?
Although I'm fond of praying mantisis, I'd rather be a cicada.© Laura Imbruglia
Demetrius Romeo: Your first CD, It Makes A Crunchy Noise, references cicadas. Why are they so important to you?
LAURA IMBRUGLIA: Itâs not that theyâre important to me, I just have a soft spot for them âcause they were one of the weird things I was obsessed with when I was a kid. I just get obsessed with things â different things â as I grow up, and that was one of the insects I was obsessed with. Theyâre pretty miserable sort of insects â miserable lives that they live: they live underground for eight years and then they come above ground and theyâve got two weeks above ground. During that time they breed and they eat, and I think itâs a pretty tough life. I wouldnât want to be stuck in the ground for eight years and then above for two weeks; thatâs not fun!
Demetrius Romeo: Another song from the CD dates back from your childhood: âFirst Boyfriendâ.
Soundbite: â1st Boyfriendâ - from the EP It Makes A Crunchy Noise
In Geography, you said to me:
âCan I please borrow your glue stick?â
So I handed you a stick of glue
and decided that you were my
pick of the boys in Year 7
You came 1st out of about 111.Oh first boyfriend Ben Castelli
Oh first boyfriend, we ate jelly ice-blocks© Laura Imbruglia
Demetrius Romeo: In a way, are you âclearing the decksâ of the older inspirations before you move on to new topics and new themes?
LAURA IMBRUGLIA: Yeah, maybe, I donât know. Iâm pretty nostalgic. Iâll probably whip out a few more. Iâm always going back and thinking about things I did in school or things from growningup, so I always have old references, and later on Iâll probably reference things Iâm doing now that I donât sing about now. So it takes me a while to catch up, lyrically, with what Iâm doing in my life.
Soundbite: âFlop in the Sackâ - from the EP It Makes A Crunchy Noise
But I don't know why, and I think Iâm gonna cry,
âcause Iâm a flop in the sack.
I put the dag in daggy, the stink in stinky,
The backwards in backwards. Iâm a flop in the sack...And Iâm sa-a-ad because Iâm ba-a-ad
© Laura Imbruglia
Demetrius Romeo: You certainly have a candour in your lyrics. Do you ever feel that the things youâre being so honest about in your songs might pop up and bite you down the track a bit?
LAURA IMBRUGLIA: Yes. Definitely. Sometimes though, itâs fictional. But because some of it is non-fiction, some people think Iâm always being completely serious and completely honest. Some of itâs made up.
Soundbite: â Donât Stray From My Site â - from the EP It Makes A Crunchy Noise
Email lover, donât stray from my site,
Be the server to my heart,
Letâs make megabytes of love.
Yahoo! We're compatible,
I connected on the very first dial tone with you.© Laura Imbruglia
Demetrius Romeo: I notice that some of your lyrics come across as ruminations put to music. How do you go about songwriting?
LAURA IMBRUGLIA: It changes over time. It depends on what kind of music Iâm listening to at the time and sometimes I donât even think about it. A lot of my songs donât have choruses or set structures.
Soundbite: âDonât Stray From My Siteâ - from the EP It Makes A Crunchy Noise
Email lover, donât stray from my site,
Be the server to my heart, lets make megabytes of love.© Laura Imbruglia
Demetrius Romeo: One of the love songs on the EP uses the internet as a metaphor. Is that a sign of the times?
LAURA IMBRUGLIA: Yeah, possibly. That oneâs not one of the true stories. That oneâs made up. I just thought it would be fun to work in some of the internet lingo into a song.
Soundbite: â Mr Clown â - from the EP It Makes A Crunchy Noise
You probably think that I never frown,
Iâm only this happy when youâre around,
So stay by my side âtil the end of the tides,
Mr Clown.© Laura Imbruglia
Demetrius Romeo: âMr Clownâ seems to be the most straightforward song that youâve included in this EP.
LAURA IMBRUGLIA: âMr Clownâ was the first serious â as âseriousâ as my songs are gonna get â song that I could stand playing to myself, let alone to other people. Because I write really literally, and there are not many metaphors at the moment, usually when I write serious songs they end up being really cheesy. Thatâs the only one⦠itâs cheesy, but for some reason, I think it gets away with it.
Soundbite: â Mr Clown â - from the EP It Makes A Crunchy Noise
I love you clown,
So stick around
âTil they put me in the ground.© Laura Imbruglia